I live in the UK and ordered my Omen from an online store in the US. It arrived in 4 days (Portland to Scotland in 4 days!!) in a small, LIGHT package. Having only read reviews and seen pics of the Omen I was very impressed with the marker from the box. As expected from Evil it has a solid feel for such a small, light marker with everything locked down and ready to use; sharp, clean shape with good black anodizing matching the marker body, barrel and drop/on-off.

First off: read the manual, and I mean cover-to-cover! The marker is not set like regular markers. You set the velocity (using the ring on the regulator) then the recock pressure (tiny screw on the body) - this is relational so, as you increase the velocity, you decrease the recocking pressure. If you are patient and know your left from your right, you'll do fine. Mine was sweet from the box, but it's only a matter of time before you have to do it yourself - so learn at the start so you don't have to go hunting for that little book in 2 weeks time.

The next thing I checked was the cam-feed I'd heard so much about. It's a small wedge shape that the hopper feeds into that adds less than 6 cm X 2 cm on the right hand side of the marker. It's what's inside that is simple yet ingeneous - two thin spring-loaded 'reeds' that gently push paintballs into the breech in each cycle. Practically, this means that if you set your velocity and recocking pressures correctly (see above) the Omen WILL NOT break paint no matter how fast you fire.

The grip is sturdy '45 style with a wide trigger guard that allows even my large hands in gloves to work the trigger. I heard a lot about how poor the trigger was but I found it extremely sensitive with little slop or movement - however it is adjustable. There are not (currently) any official Omen alternatives but these and custom jobs will not be long in coming. It has a stock 15 bps rate of fire which as far as I'm concerend is more than enough (check out the review of the PDP chip for upgrading to 25 bps.) Now, I'm way too old to have decent muscle control but I could still walk it and get a good rate of fire. Besides, triggers and their settings are such a personal thing that to crticize a stock marker setting is not really valid.

The Detonator regulator is first class. After breaking-in (dry firing a couple of thousand shots) it was very consistent at the chrono. Also, I was using CO2 on a cold day so any reg that gives me that performance has won me over. It only requires a drop of oil every so often to keep it in tip-top condition.

The barrel is also a fine piece of kit. For a stock piece it compares very well with most after-market barrels I have used. If you visit different sites or your paint quality is dodgy, you might want to consider a Pipe Set. Being closed bolt and having no ball detent a good paint/barrel match will make a BIG difference and the Pipe Set will help this. However I have no plans to upgrade the barrel at the moment.

PREFORMANCE
Fully broken in and tuned at the chrono (300 fps +/-2 fps consistently), even running on CO2, the Omen is a joy to use. The range is good and the accuracy is awsome (100 ft = spread of 2 - 3 inches; 150 ft = spread of 5 - 7 inches.) The cam feed works flawlessley. If there is no ball to feed, it simply skips and feeds the next ball. Tuning the Omen I was using some ropey old site paint that had been sitting for a couple of weeks. It gobbled it up and asked politely for more. Changing to a better quality and smaller bore paint for some woodball playing, there was no noticable difference in accuracy or range. There has been a lot written about the recoil (kick) of the Omen - mostly about how it affects accuracy. Again, it's a subjective thing, (unless you're actually measuring the joules released in the fire-recock cycle), but I can't say I noticed that much and my accuracy wasn't affected. However, if you are a smaller player you might be affected more than I was. The proof of the Omen's worth were playing an entire day of scenario woodball with a light, reliable, accurate, fast and efficient marker - not a CO2/N2 hog by any manner of means!

UPDATE: I have played more days since writing the initial review. The Omen remains reliable 6 months after buying it. Apart from a broken hammer plate (see below) - which was most likely my fault for having the recock pressure too high - I have had flawless days of enjoyable playing, seeing off countless autococker, impulse and angel users. If you are image conscious or care about how cool your marker looks, rest assured the comments on my Omen were all complimentary. As this is a family forum, the comments upon seeing it in action are unprintable - but I took these to be complimentary also!

Conclusion:

This is a well conceived, marker with a lot going for it. For a stock marker it is superb - the reg, barrel and cam-feed make it worth the money alone. Add the electro-trigger and you have a potent package that is light, reliable, accurate and fast - well worth $400. Since I first wrote this review, my hammer plate broke and caused re-cocking problems (probably because my re-cock pressure was set too high - my bad). However, PMI Europe tech-support (based in the UK) was great: I simply posted my Omen to them. It was back in 10 days, working sweet-as-a-nut.

The Omen is a rare thing in PB - a marker that has a genuine player fan-base, guys who are passionate about the marker and are enthusiastic for others to try it out. What other marker do you know where the players themselves are designing and making custom triggers, flush cocking, grips, ASAs etc? There are plenty of friendly, knowledgable guys on the various Evil / Omen forums that will give good, sensible and easy to understand advice if you need a quick question answered.

Some would criticize the lack of upgrades for the Omen, but the stock marker is a great performer without the need for 'bling' or paint chucking enhancements. With Evil providing the performance and PMI providing the tech support you can be confidant that the marker is quality and, should the worst happen, you will be well taken care of. Try it then buy it. Learn how to use the marker and the only problem you will have is paying for the paint you use!

The evil omen was one of my first high end electronics i had. I loved it at first but then i had so many problems with it there were to many to count. I dont really wanna go into further detail except this the evil omen is a horrible no reliable marker

question man your problems were probably easy things that customer support could of helped you out with but im guessing you were too lazy to look into it. you didn't go into detail though so there is really no point to your comment i've had mine for 3 months and i had no problems that weren't easy fixes

The Omen is a rare thing in PB - a marker that has a genuine player fan-base, guys who are passionate about the marker and are enthusiastic for others to try it out. What other marker do you know where the players themselves are designing and making custom triggers, flush cocking, grips, ASAs etc? There are plenty of friendly, knowledgable guys on the various Evil / Omen forums that will give good, sensible and easy to understand advice if you need a quick question answered.

You have to realize that goes with many guns, Autocockers, Tippmanns, Ions, Wraths, etc.

(300 fps +/-2 fps consistently), even running on CO2, the Omen is a joy to use. The range is good and the accuracy is awsome (100 ft = spread of 2 - 3 inches; 150 ft = spread of 5 - 7 inches.)

That's the biggest bs I have ever heard I have shot one and no gun is that accurate

quote:Originally posted by the_butcher.question man your problems were probably easy things that customer support could of helped you out with but im guessing you were too lazy to look into it. you didn't go into detail though so there is really no point to your comment i've had mine for 3 months and i had no problems that weren't easy fixes